Pestano Set to Become Titans' 48 Big League Player

Sept. 22, 2010

Cleveland, Ohio -
Cleveland, Ohio - Former Cal State Fullerton All-American and first-team Big West Conference reliever Vinnie Pestano will join the Cleveland Indians on Thursday (Sept. 23) as the team opens up their final homestand of the season against the Kansas City Royals at Progressive Field.

When he appears in his first game with the Indians, he will become the Titans' 48th player to play in a big league game and the first since Justin Turner debuted with the Baltimore Orioles in September of 2009.

UPDATE:Pestano made his debut on Sept. 23 and pitched a scoreless 9th inning without a run or hit. He walked one and struck out one.

Pestano was with the Titans from 2004-06 and compiled a 8-8 record, a 2.93 ERA and 27 saves over three seasons. He ranks 7th all-time at Cal State Fullerton with 93 career appearances and is 3rd all-time in saves.

The side-winder's Titan career came to a close on May 10, 2006, when attempting his 14th save of the season against USC, he was forced to leave the game with an elbow injury that would eventually require Tommy John surgery.

PHOTO STORY: Click here" to see a photo story by Titan photographer Matt Brown of Pestano's road to surgery.

Despite the injury, the Indians drafted him in the 20th round of the 2006 first-year player's draft.

Pestano is coming off a dominant season with the Triple-A champion Columbus Clippers, where he posted a 1-2 record with a 1.55 ERA in 43 appearances and held his opponents to a .202 batting average. The righty saved 14 games for the Clippers, 10 of which came over the final 24 games of the regular season. Over those 24 games, he posted a 0.71 ERA.

"We wanted to take a look at Vinnie," Indians manager Manny Acta said. "Our minor league staff really likes his stuff, and he could be a factor down the road. I don't know how many innings he'll be able to get with only so many games left. But we can get a feel for him since we didn't see him in spring training."

Pestano will be joined by catcher Luke Carlin in the late call up. With neither man on the Indians' 40-man roster, the club will have to make room on the current roster upon their arrival in Cleveland.

Pestano was member of the 2004 national championship team at Cal State Fullerton and was part of two teams (2004 and 2006) that made it to the College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska.